Paper Wishes Blog

It’s been fun sharing my crafting thoughts with you all these past few week…but I’ve decided to move on from the Paper Wishes family. I am leaving you in very capable hands. I’ve spent the last couple of days showing Cristina – the new Marketing gal around and she’s caught on quick! She is looking forward to blogging about what she’s learned and her creative inspirations. ~ Best Wishes, Erin

I would like to thank Erin for all time and effort she has spent with me during the past 3 days. I’ve learned a lot from her and she will be missed by everyone here at Paper Wishes. I wish her all the best in her new endeavors.

I’m so excited, one of the first things I got to do here was create a coupon for Paulette’s Birthday!

It’s Time to Celebrate! For Paulette’s Birthday we are sending out a 20% Off Coupon! 20% off will be taken off the highest priced item! Limited time offer, once your coupon arrives on Wednesday, August 4th you’ll have til August 10th, 2011 to use it! It’s our way of thanking you for being apart of the Paper Wishes Family! Happy Birthday Paulette. Be sure to check your email, however if you haven’t signed up to received our newsletters click here and you’ll be in the know!

Here are a couple of inspirations for Birthday cards!

How many of you start your holiday craft making early? Making cards, handmade one-of-a-kind items, wrapping paper and gift tags…all those wonderful things that make the holidays special and take time and care to create? I wish I could say I was way ahead of my craft projects, but the reality is, come November I will be looking for inspiration…and time…to make my handmade gifts, which I love to do.

Well, we here at Paper Wishes are trying to help both with the inspiration and savings for your Christmas crafting projects! We have to thank our Inventory Gal, Phyllis, as she has come up with tons of festive items for our Mom’s Warehouse Sale this week. There are amazing deals on everything from Holiday templates and paper to Dazzles™ and punches. I think it’s a great idea to start shopping now, while there are savings to be had, instead of later in the year when everything is full price!

Christmas Images Punch

Wreath Small Stamp

Poinsettia Silk Flowers

As for inspiration, have you ever checked out the Project Gallery section of the Paper Wishes site? If you go to the main page and click Project Gallery on the top red bar, it will take you to something very special…hundreds of project ideas that are totally searchable! If you search “Christmas” or “holiday”, a kazillion scrapbooking, card making, stamping and album ideas will pop up to inspire your creative spirit…as well as introduce you to new techniques. You can also search for non-holiday related items through the categories listed, so whatever the project, check here and you’re sure to be motivated! Not only do you get a great visual, you get full project instructions to know how to make it!

Christmas Card

Inside Christmas Card

Your gift recipients will be very impressed with you this year! Not only did you save big by shopping early, you made some pretty incredible projects after you got some Paper Wishes inspiration!

The office is fairly quiet with many people out of town at the summer Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show (CHA) in Chicago this week or on vacation. It’s kind of exciting that we’re unveiling 84 new Paper Wishes products at the show…everything from holiday offering of new papers, Dazzles™, Papier Tole and stamps to new templates, paper packs and the Color Me™ Silver papers we showcased during the Stamp Camp Week of Webisodes last week.

Since they’re so great, I just can’t wait…I wanted to share sneak peak at some of what’s to come with one of our new product lines “Steampunk” and one of our new paper packs for holiday scrapbooking and card making, “Vintage Christmas”. Both have coordinating Scrapbooking Dazzles™ and Papier Tole, so creating something special will be oh, so easy! These product will be available at the end of August!

Steampunk Paper Pack

Vintage Christmas Paper Pack

Vintage Christmas Card

Putting up a trade show booth can be cumbersome, so I thought it might be interesting to see a before and after of how it happens…

HOTP Booth Before

HOTP Booth After

It’s lots of work, but fun to see the industry react and get excited about new things!

I also wanted to share that we have a winner for the blog sign-up giveaway!  Sharon, from Colorado, will soon be receiving her very own CraftGeek Roll It! It’s a fun tool to use to create unique borders or even draw…and last week, it was in the Paper Wishes top ten! Customer’s are really liking this one…maybe because it’s fun for all ages! Enjoy, Sharon..when you get it, let us know what you think about it by posting a comment on the blog.

First, I wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to Diana from Canada…She is the winner of 1st blog contest! Hopefully she lets us know how she’s going to use all those amazing stamping supplies! (They’re on their way, Diana…so enjoy!) I also want to thank all those who submitted a project. I am so impressed with your creativity and efforts! Thanks! Some people asked how do they find out about these kinds of things…well, it’s easy, if you haven’t already…subscribe to my blog! Then you’ll be in the know about all of our fun giveaways and get the latest info on what’s going on here at Paper Wishes….and it’s lots!

I am busy editing project instructions for tomorrow’s Stamp Camp Webiside – Glossy Day . I really want to try one of our new products we’re featuring – the clear embossing powder. I feel like the possibilities are endless…to be able to use any slow drying ink and give it shine and dimension…super cool! Wow, my cards will sparkle! I also like what our designer, Susan, has done with our tiered gift box template and Glossy Color Me™ paper…the blueish color she created using Alcohol Ink and Metallic Silver StazOn® is really fabulous and so original!

Gift Box with Glossy Color Me™ Paper

As for today’s Clear Techniques Webisode, who knew one of the hot products everyone wants to know about is CraftGeek’s decorative roll it. It’s available now and it’s pretty fun to use…you can create borders, a distressed look and even write with it. It can be used with inks or chalk inks, so you can match any scrapbook page or card project you’re working on! Check it out! Bonus! If you subscribe to the blog today and post a comment, you’ll receive a CraftGeek Roll It for yourself!

Page using Roll It

Hope you’re enjoying the Stamp Camp Week of Webisodes and the amazing Super Saver bargains! Those of you battling the heat this week…stay inside and craft away! Don’t forget you’re getting 6 days of Webisodes this week instead of 5.

The sun is shining and it’s all a buzz around here as we begin to film the *Stamp Camp* Week of Webisodes that air next week. Production notes, Paper Wishes supplies all gathered, project samples…and of course wardrobe, hair and makeup. Ha!

Each day has a theme that ties it all together…day one for *Stamp Camp* is a “silver Day”.  Silver you say…yep, silver.  You’ll be happy to know that this webisode launches the new Color Me™ Silver papers.  Yeah!

There are 6 silver designs that work for any paper crafting project…and look fabulous with chalk inks, Smooch inks, Glimmer Mist or whatever ink matches your project! I’ve seen a scrapbook page that really pops when blue and green chalk inks were added to the silver swirls and a few cards that really stand out when pink and aqua were used.  I just love the way you can match whatever photo or embellishment you’re trying to incorporate when you use the Color Me™ papers. Brilliant invention! I can wait to take them home and try all 6 designs!

Card using Color Me™ Papers

Here are some designer tips when using Color Me™:

Rubbing Color Me™ papers with a paper towel after inking helps colors blend together softly.  Using a combination of inkpads and Smooch Spritz is also a great technique to try.

• To prevent the Color Me™ paper from buckling if you spray it with Glimmer Mist, place a few paper towels over it and a heavy book on top until it dries. On small areas such as the tags, you can apply the Glimmer Mist with a paper towel to get a more saturated color without having to waste a lot of ink.

Color Me™ Paper and Glimmer Mist

Time is running out…if you want to win the $85 worth of amazing stamp supplies, attach an image of your project in the comment section of my blog. See the 6/24 post for details…your submission is due by 7/7!!!

Did I mention….First time ever – 6 days of of webisodes for Stamp Camp!  We added Saturday, too!

I mentioned the upcoming *Stamp Camp* Week of Webisodes last week, and we’ve been so focused on getting everything ready, I still have “stamping” on the brain. That said, I wanted to share a cool technique that the design girls showed me this morning for a *Stamp Camp* project that looked super neat…I almost thought it was our Color Me™ papers at first glance.

Embossing…I have all the supplies tucked away at home, but don’t often get them out when stamping something, but I should because I really love the finished look of an embossed stamp -the texture and focus it gives the image. Ann, one of our talented designers, showed me a large stamped image she’d stamped with VersaMark™ ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder…a product we’ll debut during *Stamp Camp*. The swirls she created totally looked like something you’d see on Color Me™ papers, but she placed them exactly where she wanted them on her card. Perfect for an original design especially when she finished it with some Glimmer Mist! I wish I could show you the finished project, it’s gorgeous, but it’s for the webisode. Well okay, just for those that read the blog…I’ll give you a sneak peek…

Sneak Peek - Stamp Camp Card Project

Here are some designer tips when it comes to embossing:

• The combination of glue stick and heat gun can warp the paper, so do the majority of the embossing before the paper is glued to the project.
• For pretty and easy embossed paper or card edges, use the VersaMark™ ink pad directly to the edge of the surface and even the inside, then emboss for an eye-catching finished look.

Embossed Card Edge

On another note, you want to win the $85 worth of amazing stamp supplies, right?? Then don’t wait…we have a giveaway going right now! See the 6/24 post for details…your submission is due by 7/7!!!

Stamp happy!

Being the new girl, it’s pretty impressive to discover the amount of amazing and FREE content you can find on Paper Wishes.com. There is both inspiration and technique for your scrapbooking, card making and paper crafting projects. Wow!

Speaking of WOW, I now know around here that stands for Week of Webisodes. Webisodes are a great way to see Paulette, owner extraordinaire, and Ann, one of our fabulous designers as they demonstrate new products, techniques and project ideas with just a click of a button. Taking that one step further, the Week of Webisodes is a full week of these videos based on a theme.

I’ve been working hard getting the upcoming Week of Webisodes, *Stamp Camp* ready. Looking at new product, talking to the design team about new techniques and putting it all together so it’s ready for your viewing pleasure the week of July 11, 2011. Bonus! I just heard this year *Stamp Camp* airs 6 days instead of 5 – WOWEE!

Lucky you! In anticipation of *Stamp Camp* 2011, I put together an awesome giveaway of some of our favorite stamping supplies, PLUS some fab new products that we will be showcasing during the Week of Webisodes. Over $85 worth of cool stuff!!! All you need to do to enter the give-away is post an image of a project you’ve created using stamping supplies from Paper Wishes. We need your submission by Thursday July 7th. Winner will be drawn at random, Friday July 8, 2011.

Here’s a sneak peak at what you’ll win….notice the new Color Me™ Silver designs?????

Prize Package

Here’s a peek at a few projects that the design team created that inspired me to go home and play with my stamps and inks.

Color Me™ Happy Birthday Card

Cupcake Card

Stamp & Punch Birthday Card

Can’t wait to see your submissions…don’t forget to tell us why you like your design…. You successfully tried a new technique….Favorite new ink pads or stamps….Or you just like it!

Happy stamping!

I am so excited to be the new Marketing girl here at HOTP! December has been so helpful in showing me the ropes and we wish her good luck on her new adventures and upcoming nuptials! She will be missed.

Wow, do I have a lot to learn about all the useful and cool products on the Paper Wishes site. Like the other day, we had a visit from Jenny with Clearsnap, the creators of ColorBox®. Do you know the difference between a pigment and dye ink…and what is best used where?

She explained it like this – mayonnaise. Yes, think mayonnaise. Mayonnaise and pigment ink are about the same consistency. Thick and rich, pigment ink sits on the top of the paper, so that’s why dry times are so slow. How many times have you smudged something because the ink wasn’t dry??? But it’s great for embossing!

Pigment Inks

Card Using Pigment Inks

Dye ink on the other hand, looks, feels and behaves more like water. They’re great for those last minute cards that you forgot to send and need to get in the mail today! The colors are clear and vibrant; they soak right into the project surface and dry in a snap.

Dye Ink

Card Using Dye Ink

And then you have what is called blended ink…one of my all-time favorites – ColorBox® Chalk. Tons of fun colors and they give you the best of both worlds: lush solid colors of pigment and the fast drying of dye inks. They definitely give my projects a more professional, artistic look and really make me look good!

Chalk Inks

Page Using Chalk Inks

One of their products I can’t wait to play around with on my scrapbooking and card projects are the Smooch® inks. What couldn’t you create with these pearlized pigmented gems, packaged in a cute nail polish bottle??? They work great on everything from paper, glass, cardstock, fabric, wood, clay and more! Or better yet inside of our Dazzles™.

Well, it time to get back to work, but I’d love to hear what you think about our products and project ideas and what you’re favorites are..so please let me know…Leave your comments or just say hi!